CONCORD — On Friday in U.S. District Court, John Allen Wright was ordered to serve 160 years in prison, a sentence U.S. Attorney John Kacavas called “unprecedented in the state of New Hampshire.”

Wright was sentenced to 1,920 months, or 160 years, for five counts of sexual exploitation and one count of possessing child pornography.

Following the sentencing hearing, which continued for more than an hour, Kacavas said he was “grateful” his request for such a high sentence was accepted, although he said “there's no joy” in pursuing something of this nature.

“There is no justice in a case like this,” he said.

Wright, 47, of 52A Charles St. in Milton, was arrested in September 2011 following an approximate nine-month long investigation by the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. A bus driver for Provider Bus Services since 2008, Wright, then 46, was arrested at his home on charges alleging he sexually abused and molested three children he transported. He pleaded guilty last September to video recording the alleged assaults with a pair of sunglasses equipped with a secret recording device inside his vehicle Kacavas referred to as “a prison” on Friday.

Kacavas informed the court that afternoon the victims are 4, 4½ and 8 years old, with autism and developmental disabilities which render them physically voiceless. He then held up the black sunglasses for all to see, pulling the evidence from a small plastic bag.

“Rather than be their custodian, (Wright) was their predator, their pornographer and their tormenter,” he told the courtroom.

Wright's sentencing hearing was postponed late last year and the courtroom was packed with people. At one point, Wright's attorney, Harry Starbranch, requested a sidebar conversation, to which Judge Steven McAuliffe said he would not allow because the proceeding was meant to be an open hearing for the public. Starbranch said the defendant wished to keep his mental health history private.

Strafford County Attorney Tom Velardi told Foster's for the state portion of Wright's charges — having specifically to do with the physical assaults allegedly carried out on the children — the state would coordinate with the defense counsel to resolve the issue “in a way that is appropriate … as quickly as possible.”

Velardi said that would also entail communicating with the family members of the victims, whom Kacavas said were not present in federal court Friday.

Kacavas noted the families sent letters to the court to provide their personal impact statements, which were taken into consideration.

“They didn't want to further traumatize themselves,” he added, noting he understands the families and their victims are attempting to move on from the acts the federal court judge said are some of the worst he has ever seen.

In February 2011, a member of the state Internet Crimes Against Children group initiated an undercover investigation to locate and identify individuals possessing and trading images of child pornography through file sharing networks. Through that process, he found Wright, who reportedly had thousands of child sexual assault images on his home computers. In those files, investigators found personal recordings of Wright assaulting the victims.

Wright appeared in federal court in a Strafford County House of Corrections tan uniform with a short haircut, no longer with a ponytail as depicted in the original headshot photograph provided by authorities. Wright has been in custody in the Dover jail since his indictment last October.

Before Judge McAuliffe accepted Kacavas' recommendation to sentence Wright to 160 years, he debated the point with Starbranch, who requested his client only be sentenced to 25 years. Starbranch said Wright suffers from severe psychosis, not specified, and schizophrenia.

Kacavas argued rather Wright's claimed diagnosis of schizophrenia was never produced in trial proceedings, and he didn't feel the man's mental state should have an impact on his sentencing. He also said investigators believed Wright “grossly exaggerated” his mental condition upon his arrest.

It was revealed in the hearing Wright served a short time in the U.S. Army before he was discharged for drug and alcohol use. Starbranch said at that time his defendant showed signs of psychosis and it is “a tragedy” his mental issues were not explored sooner.

Starbranch also stated his client has suffered in the past from severe audio and visual hallucinations, and said he also wrote a “gigantic book” that was essentially “a hallucination” as well.

Judge McAuliffe also told the court he didn't want to set what some have called an “absurd” precedent, sentencing a man to incarceration for longer than his natural life, but Kacavas told Foster's he is aware of at least one other state where an extended sentence has been imposed.

Kacavas told McAuliffe he wished to “make a statement,” to warn other like-minded individuals their crimes will be taken, and punished, seriously. The judge soon after accepted his request.

“Should you do that, you should expect to be treated in the most severe way authorized by law and our justice system,” Kacavas said outside the courtroom doors.

Wright was immediately handcuffed by a federal U.S. marshal. He turned to two women seated behind him and acknowledged them with a subtle smile. The pair had their arms around each other throughout the hearing. The defendant has 14 days to file an appeal with the court.

Other modifications on Wright's sentence say he must pay $600 to the government and if he is released from prison, he must be supervised for the remainder of his lifetime. Wright is not to have unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18 and is barred from using the Internet without prior permission.

In a press release, Kacavas said he would like to thank the state ICAC Task Force, the FBI, the Strafford County Attorney's office and the police departments from Rochester, New London, Dover and Kittery, Maine.